Managing the operations of a $16 million a year LDAR (leak detection and repair) services company and spearheading the development of the next generation of hardware and software to manage LDAR programs is a tall order to fill.

But Rex Moses, president and CEO of Houston-based LDARtools, has learned that his real responsibilities are much less tangible.

“One day we realized that one of our technicians at the time had falsified a small number of inspection records,” Moses said. “In a matter of moments, we realized that the emphasis we had placed on safety needed to be focused just as intensely on integrity.

“Since that day we are a different company, and I see my leadership responsibilities in a totally different light.”

While keeping those priorities at the top of the list, LDARtools is faced with the essential challenge of LDAR management — the never-ending difficulty of providing the highest quality service to clients who want more and more for less and less.

In addition, Moses said LDAR is a critically important business that requires technicians to work in the most difficult conditions while under the most intense scrutiny. 

“The physical, technical, intellectual and integrity challenges are unique in our industry, and we are constantly struggling to identify and develop the best and most effective approaches,” he said.

Moses — who began in the industry consulting for an industrial services company just entering the LDAR market — cites organization, discipline, flexibility, perspective and resilience as skills that help him in guiding the company.

He has been an integral part of Environmental Analytics (parent company of LDARtools) since its beginnings, assembling a group of investors and negotiating the purchase of the company on their behalf 12 years ago. At the end of that transaction, he was hired in his current capacity.

The subsequent years have been a period of growth and innovation for the company, and Moses believes it all centers around the employees.

“We have hired the most extraordinary group of people ever assembled to build a company like this one,” he said. “These men and women have worked with the constant support of the owners of the company and the encouragement and support of our clients to build the greatest LDAR company in America.”

Moses is guiding the team at LDARtools with the goal of being the leaders in enabling the LDAR industry to advance into the next two phases of technology — first with the wireless transmission and Pocket PC and then into the infrared camera era.
 
Keeping a pulse on the industry is key for Moses, and he accomplishes this by talking to clients, technicians, field supervisors and managers on a daily basis.

“I am keenly aware that there is nothing that I am going to see, do or learn in my own office that will help me understand this business any better,” he said. “The proof is in the hearts and minds of the technicians and the expectations of our clients.”

Although Moses claims he doesn’t feel very qualified to give a lot of advice to an up-and-coming executive, when pressed, he did dish out one tidbit.

“In the most difficult or challenging moments try to spend at least an instant envisioning things the way you are going to see them 10,000 years from now,” he said. “Because it is only from that vantage point that you will be able to see what is really lasting, important and true.”

When asked what has been the turning point in his career, Moses said he’s keeping his eyes open, still waiting for it.

“If anybody else sees me turning a corner, I hope that they will let me know,” he added.

Born on the Naval Air Station in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, Moses and his wife, Valerie, have been married for 30 years and have six children — Lauren, 27; Kevin, 21; Martin, 19; Claire, 17; David Michael, 13; and Brendan, 10.

To learn more, call (281) 333-3552 or e-mail rmoses@eaivalue.com.